A new adventure

I'm embarking on a new journey to learn how to paint with water colors. I'm going to practice by myself by drawing and painting using water colors, gouache, pens and what ever makes me happy. The next step will be to take an actual class.

My voice

I'm trying to find my own voice in this medium, water colors are new to me. Sure I painted with water colors before, but I never got to where I wanted to be, just wasn't crazy about the result, until now. I love the transparent quality of the colors when they mix with each other. After watching a few videos on Youtube I tried to paint myself. My graphic esthetics took over and I added pens and colored pencils. I wonder where it will take me and how I'll make it my own. Other than getting the proper paper and brushes, I'm planning to take a class at Otis, my favorite art school in the area. This is my first attempt to find myself in water colors (It's probably not a good idea to post my first attempts after the amazing art of Kiana Mosley, I guess we all have to start somewhere).

Quiet please

Working long hours on the computer lately made me miss hand drawing and my water colors. I got inspired from our huge sunflowers and wanted to create a colorful and happy drewing. Different colored sunflowers on different backgrounds. I love the white background, the dark ones make the sunflowers look cluttered and I need some air these days. • Hand-drawn, water colors, scanned and manipulated in Adobe Photoshop.

Bedding design

Another assignment for my textile design class was to create coordinating patterns using water colors for bedding collection. The image reference and the color palette was given by my instructor, you can see them on the last photo, the images on the left and color on the right. • The first photo is a fitted sheet, the second and third are sham designs, the fourth is a border for a duvet cover, and the last one is playing with the shapes and creating new arrangements and interest. • My inspiration for the collection came from a kaleidoscope and mirrored images, I wanted to create a world of dreams and fantasy.

Happy Valentine's Day

Bedding sneak peek

Another project for my textile design class. Three coordinating patterns utilizing watercolor technique for bedding collection developed from art reference supplied by my instructor.

Back to otis

I'm back to Otis for my third and final semester of textile/surface design program. We started painting in acrylic in one class and water colors in the other. Having fun already. The image is of student work.

WIP Water colors (3)

I had to create three coordinating painted original floral patterns in water color for the apparel market. I used the original water colors without converting them to vector files, you can see a sample here. They are all scanned and repositioned to work together as a one whole design, I also added a background to each. It's not my usual way of working but I'm enjoying taking on new and challenging tasks, the results are pretty surprising.

WIP Water colors (1)

My new assignment is to design three coordinating painted original floral patterns in water color for the apparel market. This is my first attempt, painting with water colors are out of my element, I'm not completely comfortable with them yet. I love the delicate transparency result and the light and dark colors but I can't completely control them yet, I'll get there eventually. The second photo is the inspiration for the flowers I drew.

Scarf IV

One more scarf to the growing collection, imagine silk, cool and shiny. Hand and computer drawn, paper cuts, manipulated in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

Scarves III

A few more scarves.

Scarves II

Remember my first assignment, here is the second design I'm working on. Hand drawn, manipulated in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

Conversationals again

Remember my conversationals? I scanned them to my computer and took them to Illustrator, each piece is separate. The next step is to decide if I should print them and on what. I'm thinking kitchen towels and aprons maybe.

Second final

It's not really a final project, no finals for this class, but I treated it like one. I hope I'm not boring you posting again (and again) about my border design, I'm just excited about it. I loved taking it to Illustrator and coming up with different pieces that work together as a family. I included all the colors I used for each piece. I feel that the last option is the most common one, but I wanted to include it and compare them all. There are so many different ways to execute this, like any other design work. I'm pleased with the results.

Paper and color

Playing with paper and water colors. My original attempt was with tissue paper, I loaded too much color and they all ripped when I unfolded them. I used regular copy paper, they don't absorb the colors very well, but if you're persistent it works. Pretty addictive.

Border (2)

Border repeat, hand painted with water colors and coordinating fabric design. Same colors and feel, same family. It's amazing how comfortable I am with the computer, I literally think computer. I envision and see it better on the computer, changes, additions, play and so on.

Border (1)

Second attempt to paint with water colors, it's a little better than the first time, but still not there. I used what I've found on my walk and tried to capture it's beauty. This will be a repeat of the border design for my textile design class, I envision it as an embroidery rather than print.

Last project

My last project for one of my textile design classes is designing borders. I don't have a clue of what to create, when I went on my daily walk today I decided to pick up some flowers and leaves and use their shapes and colors to create my project.

Conversationals

Conversationals are realistic designs that tell a story or contains a message. The first photo is the original and the second is a coordinating print. My first time using Dr. Martin water colors (some mixed with gouache), I guess it can only get better from here.